Cinders of Gold
by pikaace
Summary: Cinder is a young Soc who wants more than anything to be a greaser, but when she meets Ponyboy and is accepted into the gang her dreams have come true. But her older brother will never forgive her joining a greaser gang, even if it means killing someone.
1. Cinder, not Cindy!

Author's note

Totally different than what I'm used to writing right?  
>I'm sure you all have read the book or at least seen the movie; otherwise you wouldn't be reading this.<p>

I know I sound really fan-girly with my OC and all, but who wouldn't want to create a character to pair with Ponyboy? He's ADORABLE! I hope you like what I threw in here to make it more action-y!

Chapter 1

A girl walked outside her front yard into the street. "Cindy Ann! Don't be gone too long!" her mother called.

Cindy nodded then rolled her eyes. She _hated_being called Cindy Ann. It had to the worst name ever. She preferred to be called Cinder, which is what almost everybody called her because of the determination and loyalty that burned in her heart. Cinder continued down the street and started heading toward the North side of town. She had dressed in jeans and a t-shirt so they wouldn't know that she was a Soc. Cinder never liked being part of the rich side of town, everyone was so stuck up and full of themselves. Cinder really wished she was a greaser so she could be free and hang around any part of town, but she doubted that anyone would bring her into a gang.

She was 13, had blonde hair that was so shiny, when she stood in the sun people might mistake it for pure gold, and bright blue eyes that reminded people of a peaceful October sky. Her singing voice, as people say, was as clear as water and almost hypnotizing. These four details brought three words to everyone's mind when they saw her: helpless little girl. Just because she looked like a princess didn't mean that she couldn't fight or go out alone at night, she could usually fend for herself unlike her older brother George. He always spent his nights going out with some friends to get drunk, jump some greasers or both. Cinder was really getting fed up with it, even though he never got into trouble with the police or mom. Ever since their dad died, mom was only worried about them being safe. It really annoyed Cinder to have all these ridiculous rules.

Cinder finally got out of the noisy town and into the quiet neighborhood of the greasers. It wasn't exactly a pretty place to live, but Cinder didn't care. She had been living the rich life for a long time and wanted to see what the opposite was like. She put her hands in her jean pockets and kept walking down the street. She hummed a tune to herself to keep herself busy until she heard a car coming down the street and turned to see a blue mustang drive past her at a somewhat slow pace. She just ignored it and kept walking.

After a while she heard shouts. She followed the noise until she came to a large empty parking lot. The blue mustang was parked and there were four Socs surrounding a greaser. The greaser had long brown hair that was slightly blonde and looked about Cinder's age, 14 or maybe 15. Cinder watched as the Socs grabbed the young boy and pinned him to the ground. The boy tried to get away but one of them took out a switch blade and held it to his throat. Cinder's eyes widened.

"If you try to get away or call for help, I'll kill you." The Soc growled.

Cinder knew she had to do something, but what? The Socs forced the boy to his feet and took out a pair of handcuffs; probably snatched from a police officer's back pocket. Socs may be rich, but they were tricky and almost never honest, even with the fuzz. He pulled the boys arms behind him and clasped the handcuffs onto him tightly. They pushed him to the ground knowing that he couldn't catch himself and they all began to gang up on the boy, slugging him and shoving him.

Cinder watched and felt anger stir inside her. She knew about the war between Socs and Greasers, but she thought it had ended after the rumble a few months ago and had no idea how violent they could be, especially on young people. As the fight went on the boy was on the ground. He had a bruise on his cheek and had a few cuts and scrapes on his arms and face. The boy began to call out for someone to help him but one of the Socs placed a hand on his mouth. At that moment, the boy noticed the blonde haired girl. They stared at each other, the boy staring into her shining blue eyes and Cinder staring into his gentle green eyes. The Socs went toward him for more, but Cinder began walked toward them. She couldn't stand to watch this anymore.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" she yelled.

They all stared at the young blonde girl. "Don't mess with us girly, we're busy." One of the Socs said and turned back to the boy.

That was the last straw; the 'innocent girl' was now seeing red. Cinder ran up and grabbed the Soc by the back of his shirt collar and landed a hard punch on his back. The Soc fell to the ground and the other ones ran toward Cinder. She quickly ducked and rolled under them at the last second so she ended up behind them. She swung her leg under two of them making them trip and land right on their faces. The other two ran toward her just as she was kneeling on one knee. She held out her arms so their waists hit her wrists. She quickly flung her arms up and flipped the Socs over flat onto their backs.

"Do NOT call me 'girly'." She said as the Socs gasped for air.

She got to her feet and ran toward the greaser boy while the Socs got to their car and drove off, embarrassed that they were taken out by a girl. The boy was lying on his side. Cinder knelt down, and took out a Swiss army knife she always carried and managed to pick the lock on the handcuffs with one of the tools. The boy rubbed his wrists while Cinder helped him sit up.

"You okay?" she asked.

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine." He said.

Cinder took his arm and helped him stand up. Some of the cuts on his arms were bleeding. "Are you hurt badly?" she asked.

The boy shook his head. "Nah. This is nothing, I've been through a lot worse." He said and faced Cinder. "But I gotta say, I've never seen a girl fight off a bunch of Socs like that before." He said.

Cinder blushed and looked at the ground. She had never been complimented on her fighting skills before. "Thanks, I guess I figured if I was living in a dangerous town like this one I needed to defend myself." She said.

The boy nodded. "Thanks for helping me out. My name's Ponyboy. Ponyboy Curtis." He said.

"My name's Cindy Ann, but everyone just calls me Cinder." She said.

Ponyboy nodded. "I better start heading back before more of them Socs come." He said.

Cinder walked beside him. "Mind if I tagalong?" she asked. Ponyboy shook his head.


	2. Joining the Gang and a Brothers Threat

Chapter 2

The two of them walked down the street and talked for while until they came to Ponyboy's house.

"Is this where you live?" Cinder asked.

"Yep, just me and Sodapop and Darry, only lot of other greasers come to stay sometimes." Ponyboy said.

"Who are Sodapop and Darry? Your friends?" Cinder asked.

"No, my brothers. I'm the youngest and Darry is the oldest which leaves Soda in the middle." He said.

"What about your parents?" Cinder asked.

Ponyboy was quiet for a minute. "They died in an auto wreck a while ago." He said.

Cinder's eyes widened. "I'm sorry." She said quickly.

Ponyboy smiled at her. "It's fine. After all we've got each other and the gang. It's actually not all bad." He said.

Just then two other greasers came out of the door toward them. They both had dark brown hair, one was tall and kind of muscular and the other wasn't as tall as the other and a little slimmer. They went up to Ponyboy.

"Pony, what the heck happened to you?" the slim one asked looking at his cuts and bruise.

"Socs jumped me." Ponyboy said.

"What did I tell you about walking by yourself?" the other one asked.

Ponyboy rolled his eyes. They both eventually met Cinder's gaze. "Who's this?" the slim one asked.

"I'm Cinder." She answered.

"This is Sodapop and Darry, who I was just telling you about." Ponyboy said.

Cinder smiled and they invited her inside where she met their friends Steve and Two-bit. After a while of talking about how Cinder took out four Socs and a bit their past lives, including their late friends Johnny Cade and Dally Winston, Ponyboy asked,

"So where do you live?"

Cinder hesitated. She didn't know if it was okay to tell them that. But she knew them pretty well now. She looked out the window toward the town.

"You live in the town?" Ponyboy asked.

Cinder shook her head. "I live….on the South side of town." She said.

The greasers stared at her. "Wait. But that means you're-" Steve began.

"I'm a Soc, you can say it." She said.

"But then, why are you here? And why did you help me?" Ponyboy asked.

Cinder sighed. "I know it sounds like I'm living it good up there, but the truth is I hate living in the same neighborhood with those stuck up rich boys. All they do is go out, get drunk, jump greasers and act like there the top of the food chain. I come here because I want to get away from that rich, spoiled life I have." She paused for a minute. "And I also want to be greaser."

Everyone stared at her. They couldn't believe that this girl who lived on the Soc side of town wanted to be one of them.

Cinder sighed. "But that's never gonna happen. Ever since dad died my mother wants me to become a scholar and my older brother would kill me if he found out what I really wanted to be. He'd probably say that I was joining the enemy and betraying the Socs or something else stupid. But I really couldn't care less; I just want to be free from that life."

Everyone was silent for a while until Darry spoke up. "Well, at least now we know that there's one Soc who understands us."

Cinder smiled and looked at the clock. She had been out for almost two hours. "Uh oh, I better get back. My mother's gonna kill me." She said.

She quickly got up and opened the door.

"See ya around Cinder." Ponyboy said.

"See ya. I'll be back sometime." Cinder said and ran down the street.

After getting home and enduring a quick scolding from her mom, Cinder went upstairs to her room and changed into clean clothes that her brother would approve of. She lay on her bed for a while until she heard someone coming into her room. Cinder sprang up and acted like she was doing homework. She expected her mother to come in, but instead it was her older brother George.

Cinder looked up. "Hey, did you get home sober this time?" she asked sarcastically.

"Very funny." George sneered and sat on her bed beside her.

"Won't you sit down?"Cinder asked frowning.

"Shut up. Listen, while I was out tonight with my friends, we found a group of guys who just got out of greaser territory."

Cinder froze.

"They said they were picking on a greaser kid and they got beat by a little greaser girl, and from the way they described her, she looked just like you." George stared at her.

Cinder didn't say anything until finally she said. "What are you trying to say?" she asked.

"I'm saying that maybe you aren't always going to town when you take those walks of yours."

Cinder stared at him calmly. "I can't believe you would think I would go to the greasers, I'm your kid sister, don't you trust me?" she asked sweetly.

George looked into her sky blue eyes and finally said. "Alright, but I'll be watching you." And walked out of her room.


	3. Taken

Chapter 3

For the next few days Cinder would go to the greaser side of town and hang out with Ponyboy and the others. She didn't give a hang what her brother said. One good thing about looking like royalty is you can get away with anything. She had never had so much fun. She had so much in common with Ponyboy. They loved books, did well in school, and loved movies. The only difference was Ponyboy liked sunsets while Cinder preferred sunrises. Not that it was much different. Eventually, her mother had to go out of town for a few weeks so she could go for as long as she wanted.

One evening she was walking with Ponyboy to his house. They had just gotten back from a movie and were talking about it. They stopped a few yards from Ponyboy's house in the middle of the street. They started to say good night when a bright red mustang pulled up and three Socs got out. They tackled Ponyboy and slugged him a few times before Cinder got them off of him and got him to his feet. The three Socs stepped back when the driver got out of the mustang. Cinder's eyes grew big when she saw that it was George holding a beer bottle in his hand.

"Cinder, I told you that I was watching you." He said.

"What do you want?" Cinder asked.

George shrugged. "I just thought that I would teach you a lesson about coming up here all the time with these grease heads."

"Hey, who're you calling grease head?" Ponyboy shot back.

"Hold them both." George said.

One grabbed Cinder's arms while the other two held Ponyboy. George walked over to Cinder and slapped her.

"You're a traitor you know that?" he said.

"Leave her alone!" Ponyboy shouted. Cinder's cheek stung from the blow. This was new, even for her brother.

"Maybe this will keep you from coming up here." George said taking out a switch blade.

Cinder held her breath and waited for him to cut her or something, but instead he walked a few feet away and faced Ponyboy. Cinder didn't have time to think, she broke free from the Soc just as George threw the blade at Ponyboy like a dart to a dartboard that was going to hit the bull's eye.

"NO!" Cinder screamed and shoved Ponyboy out of the way. Ponyboy fell to the ground.

"Cinder!" he cried.

Cinder felt a slash of pain on her right side and fell to the ground. Her scream had echoed throughout the entire neighborhood. As she lay on the ground her breath became shallow. She put her hand on the spot where the knife hit, and looked at her hand. It was wet with blood. Ponyboy ran up and knelt beside her. There was a large gash on her right side from the blade and there was blood everywhere.

"Cinder, why did you do that!" he cried.

Cinder looked into his pleading green eyes, she could see them welling up with tears. "It's no big deal; you're a really important friend to me you know." She said softly.

Ponyboy took her hand. "No, it is a big deal. I've already lost two friends and I'm not gonna lose you too." He said.

George didn't look at all sorry for what happened but he knew he had to do something. "Take him and let's go before anyone sees." He said.

The three Socs walked up and grabbed Ponyboy and began pulling him away. They tore their hands apart and stuffed Ponyboy into the trunk of the mustang.

"Cinder!" Ponyboy cried out just before they shut the door. Cinder lifted her head and reached out as the mustang drove away.

"Ponyboy, no!" she cried weakly.

Cinder tried to get up but she was too weak from blood loss. She heard footsteps coming her way and looked up to see Soda, Darry, Steve, and Two-bit running toward her. Two-bit lifted her head up and cradled her while the others surrounded her.

"Cinder, what happened?" Soda asked.

"And where's Pony?" Darry added.

"Socs….got us…they took…..Ponyboy." she said weakly, and passed out.


	4. Finding Ponyboy

Chapter 4

Cinder woke up in a hospital bed. There were stitches on the spot where she was slashed and all the greasers were around her.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

"All night long." Two-bit said.

"You sure gave us a scare when we saw all that blood comin' from you." Steve said.

Cinder gave a small smile, but then remembered that those Socs had Ponyboy. God knows where he could be by now. She couldn't believe George would go as far as kidnapping; and to her best friend even. He had gone too far.

"What happened last night?" Darry asked. Cinder told them the whole story. When she had finished it was quiet for a minute.

"Why did they take Ponyboy in the first place?" Two-bit wondered.

"Idiot. Didn't you hear Cinder's scream? They had to get away and hide the evidence." Darry said.

"They probably didn't take me because they thought I was as good as dead." Cinder added.

"Do you have any idea where they could've taken Ponyboy?" Soda asked.

Cinder shook her head. "No, but I might be able to get it out of George when I get back." Cinder said. They nodded.

Cinder got out of the hospital that afternoon and headed home. She found George inside, sitting in an armchair when she got back. She walked in and slammed the door. George looked at her with a surprised look on his face.

"Cinder. You're back." He said.

"Surprised to see me alive?" Cinder asked.

George stayed quiet as Cinder walked up to him.

"Where have you taken him?" Cinder asked firmly.

"Who?" George asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, where have you taken Ponyboy?" Cinder demanded.

"Calm down Cindy Ann." He said.

"Don't call me that! Tell me where he is!" Cinder screamed and George got up, towering over her.

"You think I'd tell you just because you're my kid sister? Well I ain't telling you a thing. You're supposed to be dead. He's still alive I'll tell you that, but he won't be for long if you keep this up you brat!" He said.

He shoved her to the ground and stormed out the door. Cinder got up and punched the wall. He was obviously still drunk from last night. She had to find Ponyboy and fast. She paced around the house trying to think where they might've taken him, but after an hour of thinking she finally gave up. She sat down against the wall.

"C'mon Cinder, think! Where would a bunch of Socs keep a greaser?" she said to herself. "They would have to hide him somewhere where no one would ever look; where?" she wondered.

George could be a real idiot when he's drunk. He would probably hide Ponyboy in an obvious but last resort kind of place.

Thump!

Cinder flinched. "What the heck was that?" she wondered.

Thump!

It came again. Cinder looked around until she heard it again.

Thump!

Cinder looked up at the ceiling. Right above her was the door to the attic. Cinder jumped up. That had to be it! No one ever went up there, not even mom! She pulled the string that was hanging from the door and pulled down the ladder. She climbed up into the dark attic. It was big since it covered every inch of ceiling in her house and was very dark even with the door open. Cinder looked around for any sign of Ponyboy. Luckily she found a string, she yanked it and many dim lights came on. Cinder looked around but there were only boxes around her.

"Pony?" she called. No answer.

"Pony?" she called a little louder. She heard rapid thumps and what sounded like muffled cries coming from behind a large box in the corner. She pushed it away and there was Ponyboy. He was lying on the ground with many bruises on his arms and face. His wrists were tied behind him with rope and so were his ankles. A thin strip of cloth was tied around his head and through his teeth. Cinder knelt down and took the white cloth off of him.

Ponyboy sighed with relief. "Cinder, you're okay." He said; his voice was somewhat hoarse, probably from all the screaming.

Cinder took out her knife and began to saw on the ropes. "Forget me, what about you? You look awful." She said. Cinder took the ropes off.

"They took me here and slugged me while I was tied up. They left me here all night. I didn't think anyone would find me until I heard your voice downstairs." He answered.

Cinder smiled and helped him up. "We better get you back, Darry and Soda are worried sick about you." She said.

They got out of the cellar and ran out the door until they were far enough away from the house. When they were near the greaser territory they began to walk.

Ponyboy looked at her. "You know, when I saw you lying there on the ground that night with all that blood coming out, I thought I was gonna lose you like I did Johnny and Dally." He said.

Cinder looked at him. "I saw tears in your eyes when you were beside me, you looked really scared." She said.

"Why did you do that?" Ponyboy asked.

Cinder paused for a minute. "I guess because you're the first friend who's ever understood me for who I am and what I wanted to be, plus you have two brothers who really love you, and I didn't want to lose you either; 'cause I care about you." She said. Ponyboy smiled.

"Pony! Cinder!" A voice cried out.

They looked up to see the gang running toward them. They ran over and hugged their friends. Darry and Soda squeezed Ponyboy and wouldn't let go. For the first time, Cinder actually felt wanted, like a real family. The next day Cinder met all the others at Ponyboy's house. She told them that George was very drunk the night he took Ponyboy and while he was out he completely forgot everything that happened that night.


	5. We Will Meet Again

Chapter 5

From that day on, Cinder was always welcome on the greaser side of town. She always had fun with Pony and the others and visited them every day. Everybody liked her for her happy personality and tough attitude, but Two-Bit liked her mostly because she was blonde. Cinder had never felt so happy. She impressed the gang even more when they found her singing in the park. She was surrounded by squirrels and rabbits and small birds perched by her singing in harmony with her song. They were mesmerized by her clear, pure voice.

But then, one day, two months later, Cinder didn't come. The gang waited until evening, but she was nowhere to be found. The next day, Ponyboy woke up to someone tapping on his window. He opened the blinds and looked out, but no one was there. Instead, there was an envelope wedged in the windowsill. It had no address. Ponyboy took it inside and opened it. It was a letter. He read it slowly.

Hey Ponyboy,  
>I know this may seem a little sudden, but I'm afraid that there's something big I have to tell you. I sent you this because I couldn't bear to tell you personally. While my mom was away, she found a job that supports us better than the job she has here. It's all the way in New Orleans, Louisiana. We have to move. I tried to talk her out of it, but it did no good. I'm leaving with mom and George today. Think of this as my last good-bye to you and all the others in the gang because I can't promise that I'll ever see you again. I just wanted you to know that helping you the day we met was the greatest thing I ever did. I've never felt more wanted. I'm really going to miss Darry and Soda treating me like their sister, Steve with his love for cars, Two-Bit with all his jokes and smart remarks. But mostly, I'll miss talking to you about movies, books and about the sunset. Tell the gang that they're the greatest friends I could ask for. You'll always be my best friend Ponyboy, I promise.<br>Love,  
>Cinder<p>

Outside, hiding in a bush beside the house, Cinder watched as Ponyboy read the letter and slowly walked downstairs to tell Darry and Soda. She got up and walked back toward her house. She took one last look and the neighborhood and a tear fell down her cheek. She got back home just in time to go to her new home. As the town faded from view from the window of the moving truck, Cinder thought of everything she was leaving behind. At the same time, Ponyboy stared down the empty street. He thought of Cinder's shining blonde hair, sky blue eyes and her beautiful voice. But the two of them felt in their heart that someday, Cinder would return. Until that day, they would just have to wait.


End file.
